Make your existing garage door SMART with ratgdo

How to make virtually any garage door opener smart using a device called ratgdo, including a step-by-step guide through the setup.
📘 CHAPTERS
00:00 - Introduction
00:18 - The Problem with Current Smart Garage Doors
01:29 - First Step
02:54 - Second Step
03:13 - Third Step
03:36 - Fourth Step
07:21 - Fifth Step
🔗 LINKS
Video article: www.michaelsleen.com/ratgdo/
ratgdo - feature comparison: tinyurl.com/4jwjd3uh
ratgdo - place an order: tinyurl.com/5553hxwz
ratgdo - firmware flasher: tinyurl.com/m4xfxj7
🧑‍💻 OTHER SOLUTIONS
iSmartGate Pro: amzn.to/43sEMAo
meross: amzn.to/3x2NSaG
Tailwind iQ3: tinyurl.com/3wwwy5x7
🎬 FILMING
Camera - iPhone 15 Pro Max: amzn.to/3tAyAbZ
Mic - Rode VideoMic GO II: amzn.to/3vnpgc1
Camera Mount - ULANZI ST-07 Phone Tripod Mount: amzn.to/41LmObt
Desk Mount - ULANZI Camera Desk Mount Stand: amzn.to/41LmM3l
Light - RALENO LED Soft Light: amzn.to/48v3Ho6
Tripod - Peak Design Travel Tripod (Carbon Fiber): amzn.to/3vExGfi
Mini Tripod - Peak Design Mobile Tripod: amzn.to/48zoIOI
Headphone Hanger Mount - EURPMASK: amzn.to/3Swl4i4
Headphones - Sony WH-1000XM5: amzn.to/3I8Hm4z
Laptop - 2023 14" MacBook Pro, M3 Pro, 18GB Memory, 1TB SSD: amzn.to/48sKBzi
Video Editing - DaVinci Resolve (Free Version): tinyurl.com/3hksxnxx
Some of these are affiliate links, which give me a kickback and help support the channel. 😜
👤 ABOUT ME
I'm Michael Leen, a lifelong tech enthusiast in the United States who believes technology is a tool that should help - not hinder - our productivity. I produce weekly video content on KZbin spanning smart home automation, mobile devices, and other tech tools to help us lead more productive lives.
🎵 MUSIC CREDIT
Lightness by Nomyn / nomyn Creative Commons - Attribution 3.0 Unported - CC BY 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
Music promoted by Audio Library • Lightness - Nomyn (No ...

[@michaelsleen]

If you experience reliability issues connecting ratgdo to Home Assistant via MQTT, then I suggest connecting it via ESPHome instead.

[@Slappula]

Thanks for the video. I just finished installing mine but wanted to compare it to what you did. I appreciate the attention to detail and step-by-step instructions.

[@michaelsleen]

Thanks, and glad it helped!

[@DandQchannel3536]

Great video! Not difficult to install at all still, however, highly suggest the Tailwind Pro. Excellent, commercial grade equipment that’s reasonably priced. Seriously, the quality is unmatched. Works with all smart home platforms as well. They are also a small company with very transparent and responsive owners. I personally use HomeKit. Being an Apple user I had to get sensors for the auto up and down feature (Apple’s issue…not Tailwind). But if you’re an android user just use your Bluetooth in your vehicle (that is, if it comes equipped with it). Again…GREAT explanation video

[@michaelsleen]

Thanks!

[@kenjacques1743]

Great video. I just got my ratgdo but I can't figure out how to get the wires out of the garage door opener? I'm pressing on the orange tabs below but the wires aren't budging and I don't want to break it.

[@michaelsleen]

Make sure you press the orange tab in all the way. When I do that, I can easily pull the wires out with little effort.

[@MikeHarris1984]

It will also work with oldschool just push button garage door openers from the 80's and 90's.... I built my own ESP32 based version since they were on back order, but I highly recommend REMOVE YOUR GARAGE DOOR FROM YOUR WIFI/MyQ integration. So you are only connected via the new RATGDO. Just incase they figure out a way to block the RATGDO with some firmware update or something and they push it out without you knowing and everything just stops. Also with RATDGO, you can see and control MORE items then you could with MyQ... You now have the garage door open/close counts, Remote LOCKOUTS (so you can setup an automation to set remote lockout if your home or if your away, so a hacked rolling code defeating device can not be used while your away (setup geofence on your phone via automation to turn it back on when you get close to your house again), turn on/off light, see obstructions, etc... Also, you can add a radar to a GPIO pin and alter the RATGDO firmware (its open source) to make it where you have a radar MMwave sensor (so if you are standing still, or in the corner where your built in motion sensor can't see), you can now use automations to have your garage lights and garage door light turn on / off based on that motion sensor instaead of the PIR motion sensor on the wall on the Chamberlain/Liftmaster/generic button. I did this and thinking about throwing a toturial together for anyone wanting to do it.... and I'm going to ping Paul (the creator of RATGDO) to see if its something he would like to add on official to his product. Also, I added on some IAQ sensors to get VOC's (to automate if a car is running with thge door shut and VOC's go through tthe roof, then open the door and vent, I also have a in wall fan in a vent in my garage wall to turn on full to get fresh air int asazp.

[@michaelsleen]

Very cool that you added mmWave for presence detection and VOC detection for safety!

[@JAZCOMPANION]

My contractor wants to forced me to use chamberlain than my desired genie brand. Thanks your video.🎉 Still even Genie app is not good. Therefore I figured a garage door opener making companies cannot maintain an app like this to do what I expected to do.

[@michaelsleen]

Good luck getting your garage door setup!

[@tulipX01]

So, it looks like I also have to purchase Home Assistant Yellow to be able to connect RATGDO with my Apple Home Kit, correct?

[@michaelsleen]

Ratgdo allows you to control the garage door with MQTT over your local WiFi network, and can be integrated with Home Assistant directly. Once integrated with Home Assistant, ratgdo can be added to Apple HomeKit using the HomeKit Bridge integration in Home Assistant. Home Assistant can be installed on a Raspberry Pi or PC, or you can purchase Home Assistant Green or Home Assistant Yellow hardware which comes with Home Assistant pre-installed. Home Assistant Green is the more beginner-friendly, plug-and-play approach to getting started with Home Assistant.

[@tulipX01]

@@michaelsleen Thank you for the reply, Michael...this was very helpful!!

[@tulipX01]

Michael, I almost have it all set up...I knew nothing about RATGO, MQTT, Home Assistant or anything..im learning on the fly...thank you. Can I ask what MQTT Broker are you using?

[@SVRockChalk]

Will it work with Alexa?

[@michaelsleen]

I am not using it with Alexa, but I am using it with Siri. Ratgdo connects to Home Assistant, and I expose all Home Assistant entities to Apple Home via HomeKit Bridge.

[@thomasbihn]

RatGDO requires home automation knowledge beyond Alexa or Google Home. It also requires a Chamberlain or Liftmaster. It looks cool, but I'd have to probably spend hours and money on other things to even use it. I wish there was something more accessible that could integrate with Alexa.

[@michaelsleen]

As mentioned in the video, other solutions include iSmartGate (amzn.to/3VqVNIZ), meross (amzn.to/4co2cur), and Tailwind iQ3. All of these work with Alexa and other smart home platforms. Hope you find what works best for you!

[@thomasbihn]

@@michaelsleen Thanks for the quick reply and information! I probably stopped the video before you got to that point. I looked at the first two and they either seem to only work with iPhone or didn't have an apparent use case for cars approaching, but Tailwind looks perfect. After two years, it will be saving me money over going with the "company that shall not be named" subscription + device! :)

[@ONI1013.]

Meross works with any phone as long as your phone is compatible with SmartThings, Google Home, Apple HomeKit, or Alexa. Basically any modern smart phone.